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After Ervas and Veronica persuaded Gaius over reconciliation with his father in the bear-kin tribe, Ervas and Veronica decided to ask Gaius a few things that they did not before.
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"And well, going back to my story… I escaped, found myself in the Devil Forest searching for ingredients, and… ah, all the Oggoth ordeal came to be, with missing limbs included. Good thing that bastard is dead now" said Gaius while nodding.
"We are still trying to find a way to recover your limbs, so don't worry. Leave it to us" said Ervas.
"That's right, at least we have avenged you by eating the idiot," said Veronica.
"Indeed, such deed is already great enough for me to even consider reconciliation with my father just because you two asked me…" said Gaius.
"And we are glad that you're trying to do so, Gaius… Moving on, we were curious about something, are there any other tribes around?" asked Ervas, concerned about any other people that could use their help and better living quality in the young Kingdom.
"Yeah, are there?" asked Veronica.
"There were used to be a family of Harpies at the peaks of the mountains, but we barely had contact with each other as their tribe was way too different than ours, we often only traded a few things and had a neutral relationship… I don't even know the chief name" said Gaius.
"Harpies! I wonder how they look?" asked Amelia with innocent curiosity.
"I've heard that they have wings in their arms and sharp talons in their feet. They can fly and are super-fast. And their kicks are extremely strong too" said Alesia.
"From where you got that info?" asked Ismene.
"I've heard it from a few explorers of my tribe that had entered into the mountains and encountered them once in a while. They are rather territorial and do not like to be bothered by outsiders" said Alesia.
"Is that so?" asked Amelia.
"They're rather different than the harpies we know from the Demon Continent, these seem more tribal than the ones from the Harpy Nation…" said Ervas.
"Yeah, they will be fun to talk with," said Veronica.
"I don't think they would want to talk as much…" said Gaius.
"We'll force them then, fufu~," said Lilith as her scarlet eyes flashed eerily.
"I wouldn't really want to force them, Lilith. We will try to do everything politely, okay? I hope that you can help in that regard too" said Ervas, preventing Lilith to say any more stupid things.
"Ah! O-Okay, my lord… sorry" apologized Lilith, as Ervas petted her head.
"It's fine, we have to be peaceful so everyone can get along well, okay? We can only retort to violence when everything else fails… and even then, there might be another way that we didn't consider" said Ervas.
"That is right, they're stubborn but we'll get through their hearts. Every tribe is different, but every tribe has its values and something that they deem as valuable or special, we must find it out and try to appeal to the Harpies" said Veronica.
"So that's how it is… well, I am glad that you will try the same way as with my tribe… Good luck" said Gaius while sighing.
"We also wanted to ask you if there was any notable dungeon there, Gaius? Anything will do," asked Ervas.
Gaius sat down as he glanced at the ceiling.
"Yes, there are a few of them. The dangerous ones are is that one right inside a whole mountain named Underworld Labyrinth… I think it used to be explored by humans until it was abandoned, there is a whole ghost town around the entrance that used to be inhabited by them in the past… And there is also the Grand Graveyard, at feet of the mountains to the east." Said Gaius.
"Graveyard?" asked Veronica.
"Yeah, it is a graveyard where many died due to a big war that happened between the humans of that tribe and my ancestors and those of the harpy… I think there were other tribes in the past, but they disappeared with time… Well, all those tribes joined together in that event, scaring away all the humans and even fighting against their strongest heroes at that time. Luckily for them, we also had our heroes, who fell in that war, though. It's an old tale that is often told in my tribe to the children." Recalled Gaius.
"How interesting, those mountains have way more history than we thought… Though I have never heard of such event happening, those humans might have been from Aquaria, or whatever Kingdom was on its place a few hundred years ago" said Jason.
"It must have been… Anyways, in that area due to so many corpses accumulating alongside Mana, a large graveyard-like scenario was created through the years, many Undead monsters make their home there, and there is also a large Dungeon in the middle of that area that leads underground, it had been barely explored but it filled with high Ranked Undead Monsters that not even my father can fend off well" said Gaius.
"That sounds like a perfect place to find a lot of friends," said Goliath.
"Isn't it? We can gather a lot of them for our cause!" said Pekoran.
"And the Dungeons seems strong enough, we might be able to level up our Jobs if we go explore those," said Ervas.
"I wonder if we could raise the ancient heroes there. We might get more friends than we are already expecting!" said Veronica.
"Friends…? Well, it might be, after all, Ervas-sama and Veronica-sama can make Undead regain their consciousness and act like normal people" thought Gaius as he remembered the ability of the Death Attribute Charm Skill.
"Is there anything else you wanted to ask for?" asked Gaius.
"I think we are fine with what we got, we don't want to tire out your mind any longer…" said Veronica.
"Phew, it was hard to recall it all, but I hope it can help," said Gaius.
"It will, thanks a lot, Gaius-san. By the way, don't forget that tomorrow morning your daily life energy infusion is scheduled" said Ervas.
"Oh right… Ugh, I hate that" said Gaius with a dead look on his face.
"It's good for your health and your limbs, so don't miss it a single day," said Ervas.
"Okay, doctor," said Gaius.
"Very well, let us move to the next topic… We will stay for the human invasion, we have decided it after having considered it for a bit" said Veronica.
"Yes, we'll delay the immigration to the Demon Continent. We are confident that we can even fend off A-Class Adventurers if we all work together as we did against Oggoth" said Ervas.
"Eh? Is that so, my son? Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better to simply run away?" asked Jason.
"Yeah? Isn't it too hasty of a decision?" asked Ismene.
"Not exactly, father, Ismene… Well, you see, if we just run away, we will end up leaving large evidence of us here anyways, awakening more suspicious, and we will most likely be pursued and constantly tailed from behind by the humans. We will, instead, receive them head-on with countless traps across the entire forest. We will entrap them, crush them, and grow stronger through experience points. We will make sure that all the armies are crushed so the Kingdom has to take even longer to recover, and in that time, we can more leisurely and calmly move out" said Ervas.
"Exactly! Just as Ervas explained. That is why we are planning in going to the mountains, to add the bears and the harpies as our citizens and trusted warriors, while also exploring the dungeons so we can prepare properly for the humans, after our scouting in the Sapphira Duchy, we estimate that they might come in one or two more months. They got large support from Anir's Extremist Church, so they had gotten many resources to prepare faster" said Veronica.
"I see how it is! Instead of letting them follow us around without letting us catch a breath, we will receive them and crush them so they cannot even think about following us around! I like it! We will crush some skulls then! Gahahaha!" laughed Leonidas like the barbarian he was.
"I guess… if all the reasons you two are giving are right… then it is possible to do that strategy, and its success rate might be better than letting them chase us while we are not prepared for them, as we are moving away, and we cannot concentrate entirely into the task of defending and attacking" said Ismene.
"Yes, it does make quite some sense. We received a large boost in everything after Oggoth's attack. I am confident in my capabilities, as long as everyone can support me" said Gaius.
"There is also Ervas and Veronica's Strengthen Followers Skill that affects us all, meaning that through such boost, our power can double in battle as long as they're present," said Anna.
"So that's why I always feel strong when they're around," said Acathea.
"Even I that am not even physically oriented have the strength to crush stones with my hands with their double strengthen followers," said Ismena.
"And there is not only that but a lot of other amazing tools and abilities that we all share… I suppose all of that was what stacked up together to let us defeat Oggoth's army," said Anna.
"See? We have the tools and the ability, we must sharpen ourselves even more for that moment, believe in us" said Veronica.
"Leave it to us," said Ervas.
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